


We Walked Through the Fire

by Jade_Kyo



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Blood, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Necessary OCs, Other, Parental Roy, Parental Roy Mustang, Parental Royed - Freeform, Parental!Royed, Probably a very hard pg13, This fic is about war don’t expect it to be family friendly, Torture, if all goes well (or bad if you’re Ed and Roy), implied edwin, implied royai - Freeform, maybe mild gore, non-major character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-30 22:23:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19036795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade_Kyo/pseuds/Jade_Kyo
Summary: Roy and Edward must fulfill their duties as State Alchemists when they are deployed to the frontlines of the Aerugo War as the Amestrian militaries human weapons of mass destruction.





	We Walked Through the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Welp hello there, I’m Jade! This is my first fic since I was 13 (I’m 17 now) so yeah my experience is minimal but I had this idea of what would happen if Ed was ever deployed into a war like Ishval and decided it was time that I finally actually sit down and write something. So I hope you enjoy! Edit: added chapter title cause I just realized I forgot that.

“The first casualty of war is innocence.” - Oliver Stone

* * *

 

The mid-day sun shone through the glass window into the office. The room was big enough to fit a mahogany desk in the center that held stacks of unfinished paperwork across its surface. In the chair accompanying the desk was a raven-haired military colonel, his dark eyes gleaming with exasperated disappointment. Standing opposite him was a fiery-eyed blond teenager with a defiant scowl on his face. 

 

“Late, as usual, Fullmetal.” The man, known as Roy Mustang, spoke. 

 

The boy huffed in response as he threw a small stack of papers down onto the older man’s desk with a thud. 

  
The Colonel sighed at the dismissal of his complaint and reached for the papers to examine its contents. “Your handwriting has somehow managed to get worse as well.” The Colonel chastised further.    
  
“Jeez, I didn’t realize you were a teacher, Mustang.” The boy known as Edward Elric, or to some the Fullmetal Alchemist, at last spoke, voice brimming with sarcasm.    
  
Roy frowned. As fun as teasing Edward was, he was in no mood for the boy's disrespectful behavior. He had work to do and Edward’s inability to do anything on time most certainly wasn’t helping.    
  
“Fullmetal, if you’re going to turn your report in late the least you can do is make it legible, otherwise, you’re wasting my time.”   
  
“Oh shut it, not like you’re doing anything important with your time anyway, old man.”   
  
Roy cocked his eyebrow, preparing to chastise the boy further for undermining the importance of what he does, but he stopped the words from leaving his mouth as his mind decided on a much better idea. “Not only is it barely readable but it’s also a bit  _ short _ .”    
  
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE NEEDS A SPECIALLY MADE MINIATURE PENCIL TO WRITE HIS REPORTS WITH BECAUSE THE NORMAL ONES ARE TOO BIG FOR HIM!” The boy erupted, shouting and flailing his arms about like a lunatic. Roy barely contained a snicker at the predictable behavior. 

 

Before Roy could torment the boy further he was interrupted by the sound of the heavy office door swinging open on its hinges to reveal his most trusted lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye. 

 

To the untrained eye she appeared completely calm upon her entry, but to Roy, who knew her better than he knew himself, he could see instantly the slight quickness in her step, the small beads of sweat on her temples, and the way her lips pressed into a thin line. Something was wrong. She gave Ed a polite nod of acknowledgment before turning her attention back to Roy.    
  
“Colonel, Sir.” She breathed, “You’ve just received orders.”

  
Roy nodded, a sense of dread building inside of him. He turned his attention back to Edward. “You’re dismissed.”   
  
“With all due respect, sir,” Riza interrupted “Edward needs to hear this as well.” She placed a Manila folder on the Colonel's desk.    
  
Roy caught the Lieutenants eyes with his own, his concern evident only to her. That most certainly was not the response he had wanted to hear. Orders were already a bitter thing for Roy, knowing it meant he’d have to be the militaries dog in some way, but orders involving Edward coming from the higher-ups made his vitriol towards the word increase. 

 

Roy glanced at Edward, the boy seemed mostly oblivious to the connotation the words could potentially have. His usual inpatient and indignant scowl in place.

  
Roy opened the folder with apprehension and began to read through its contents out loud, “By order of Fuhrer King Bradley Colonel Roy Mustang and Major Edward Elric will be-!” Roy stopped mid-sentence in muted shock. A rage flickering in his eyes. 

  
“What? What does it say?” Edward asked, his previous anger forgotten. 

  
Roy’s hand came to rest over his eyes as he spoke, hiding them from view and obscuring the emotions within them. “We’re being deployed to the frontlines of the Aerugo-Amestris conflict.” His words were calm and cold but hidden within them was a silent boiling rage. “We’re being used as human weapons.”    
  


The room grew silent as Edward processed what he had just heard, his entire body tensing as his stare borrowed into the Colonel. His eyes widened as understanding began to take hold in his mind. 

 

“What!?” The silence was broken as Edward slammed his palms on the surface of Mustang’s desk. 

 

Roy’s hand remained rested over his eyes, refusing to look at or speak to his young subordinate. 

 

“This is bullshit!” The boy continued, “I’m not going to fight a war for these people! I don’t have time for this! I have far more important things to take care of, you of all people should know that!”

 

Roy, at last, brought his hand down revealing his cold dark eyes as they met with Edward’s golden ones, shining with that fiery determination they always seemed to have. “This is an order from the very top, Fullmetal.”

 

“There has to be something you can do!”

 

“No, there isn’t. Not if this is from the Fuhrer himself. We have no say in the matter.”

 

Silence overtook the room once more as Ed met Roy’s eyes with a challenging stare. After a moment Edward broke away from the stare and the light in his eyes seemed to fade ever so subtly as if resigning himself to his circumstances. Something Roy thought did not suit the boy at all. 

 

“Fullmetal?” Concern unintentionally making its way into the older man’s voice. 

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Roy nodded an acknowledgment before continuing in his usual business-like manner. “According to the orders we leave in four days. Take the time to collect what you’ll need. You’re dismissed.”

 

Edward nodded as he turned and left the little office. Leaving the colonel and lieutenant alone in the room. 

 

Roy watched the small figure exit the room with a heavy heart knowing what was in store for the boy. Once the door was closed and Ed could no longer be seen Roy released a forlorn sigh. “This is bad.”

 

He turned to meet his lieutenant's eyes and noticed the subtle look of disapproval she was giving him. “What?”

 

“You could’ve been a little more gentle with him.”

 

“He doesn’t need to be coddled.”

 

“No, of course not, but he is still 15. Sometimes he needs something more than a colonel, sir.” 

 

“What are you getting at, Lieutenant?” Agitation coming through his voice. 

 

“Nothing.” Riza looked over the Colonel before turning her eyes back to the door, “Colonel?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Take care of him.”

 

“Of course. That  _ is _ my job as his commanding officer. You’re dismissed”

 

Riza’s eyes narrowed as she began collecting papers from the Colonel's desk before making her way to the door. She stopped and looked at Roy one last time. 

 

“You know that’s not what I meant, sir.” She made her exit before the Colonel could give her a response, leaving him alone in the quiet little office.

* * *

 

The train compartment was just big enough to comfortably fit both Edward and Roy. In between the two boys was a wooden table to match the bench seats that they were currently occupying. The large window on the side of the train allowed the occupants to watch as the terrain passed by. On the other side was a large wooden sliding door with a small circular window in it. 

 

The four days had gone by quickly and before either of them knew it they were both boarding a train that would take them far away from their friends and family where they were safe and protected, and straight to the frontlines of war where death was an ever lingering presence. Whether that presence be the deaths of their enemies, comrades, or even themselves. 

 

Roy himself knew many soldiers who stepped foot on these trains and never came back. He had once feared that he would be included in that group when he was sent off to fight in the Ishvalan Civil War, and it was a fear he had hoped he’d never have to experience again. Yet here he was, on one of those dreaded trains, wondering if he would be dead soon and if the goodbyes and farewells he said to those he left behind would be his last. 

 

To top it all off Edward had just been dragged into this world of fear, and Roy had been the one to do it to him. Roy had brought Ed into the world of the military and State Alchemists. At least that’s the way Roy saw it. Ed would argue it was his own choice, which was true, but it was a choice he wouldn’t have made if Roy hadn’t presented the possibility to him all those years ago in Resembool. 

 

Roy looked over the boy sitting across from him, curled up in his seat, back against the train wall and legs swung up on the bench seat. The boys eyes were intense and staring off at nothing, his shoulders stiff, and his jaw clenched shut. He was fiddling with a screw on his automail hand but appeared to not be paying any particular attention to what he was doing. 

 

The two had been silent for most of the ride, only ever exchanging basic pleasantries. Despite the peaceful ride and beautiful scenery the air across the entire train was tense and apprehensive. Any attempt at casual conversation had been awkward and forced as the ever growing fear that built on the train put everyone on edge. Roy had grown used to the feeling from his time in Ishval, but to someone like Ed who didn’t know what it was like to be a soldier it was clear the environment was already beginning to weigh down on him. Roy didn’t doubt that Ed could handle it, but that didn’t change the concern he felt for the boy or his own guilt for putting him in the situation to begin with. 

  
“Fullmetal?” Roy brought himself to speak, wanting to say something to ease the boy's nerves even just a little.

  
“Hm?” Was the only response from the boy.    
  
“Are you okay?” Roy struggled to find the right words to say. He could talk someone in circles all day but give him a scared kid and he was rendered utterly useless.    
  
Ed gave him an indignant glare, “Of course I’m okay. I’m not some kid.”   
  
Roy raised a skeptic eyebrow. “We’re going into a war, Fullmetal.”   
  
“You don’t say.”   
  
“I’m just saying it’s understandable if you’re scared-“   
  
“I’m not scared!” The boy interrupted defensively. 

 

“Oh really? I guess that’s why you’re shaking then.”

 

Edward’s fidgeting came to a halt and his body stiffened even more before slouching down further into his seat. He turned his face away from the Colonel with an indignant huff. “What’s it to you, old man!”

  
Roy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fullmetal, I’m just trying to help.”   
  
“Yeah, well, I never asked for your help!”   
  
Roy felt his frustration growing, the boy could be so stubborn and his own patience was running thin.

  
“Fullmetal,” Roy’s voice came as level and calm as he could muster in his agitation. “As your commanding officer, it’s my duty to-“   
  
“Will you just shut up!” Edward erupted, sitting up in his seat glowering at Roy. “I don’t need your help!”    
  
“Fullmetal, just listen to me-“   
  
“No! Don’t pretend like you actually  _ care _ about any of this, Mustang. I know you’re only doing this out of some misplaced sense of obligation!  _ I don’t need your help! _ ”   
  
An icy silence engulfed the little train compartment the two men shared. The only noise being the roar of the train and clacking of the wheels beneath them. 

  
“Very well,” Roy finally spoke, his cold voice filling the already chilly silence. “I can tell when I’m not wanted.” He stood from his seat and removed himself from the compartment. The boy barely even acknowledged his absence. 

  
Roy ran his hand through his hair in exasperation as he made his way to the back of the train. Just as he had expected the final cart was nearly empty and he was able to find an unoccupied compartment quickly.    
  
He took his new seat in the empty compartment, identical to the one he shared with Edward. He opened the window to his side letting the cool wind fill the small space and flow through his dark hair. The sensation was strangely calming as he felt the coolness on his skin. 

  
He released a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Despite the cool air circulating through the little compartment Roy could feel the beads of sweat dripping down his face, the stress already beginning to take hold of him. He was heading straight for the frontlines of war, something he had so dearly wished would never happen again, and now he had a scared teenager he had to protect. A scared teenager who wanted nothing to do with him and was too stubborn to accept help from him even on the best of days.    
  
Despite his earlier anger, Roy couldn’t blame the kid for lashing out. Roy knew Ed was probably terrified. Even if he denied it. The kid had already been through a living hell of his own, there wasn’t much left that could truly scare someone like Edward, but despite all of that he was still indeed a child. 15 is 15 no matter the trauma one had experienced in their life.    
  
Of course, Roy had never been one to coddle either of the Elric boys. He knew Ed couldn’t afford to be treated like a child if he was gonna make it anywhere as a State Alchemist, but sometimes, such as now, Roy wondered if he was maybe a bit too hard on the boys, especially Edward.

  
He had tried to reach out to the boy while maintaining a professional air about them and that was where he made his mistake. Riza was right, sometimes the boy needed something more than a commanding officer. he needed someone who would be there, not out of a sense of obligation, but simply because they wanted to be there. He needed a friend. 

  
Roy combed his hand through his dark hair, releasing a frustrated sigh. He was sure that if Riza or Maes had been here he’d be getting an absolute ear full from both of them. 

 

A mirthless smile formed on his lips as he recalled his most trusted Lieutenant’s words, of course, she had been right, she always was. Roy wondered why he ever doubted anything she said to begin with. She always seemed to know just what needed to be said. 

 

Roy’s thoughts drifted back to Edward and what he should do. He needed to go back and talk to the boy again, but his mind landed on the same question as before: what do you say to a stubborn and scared teenager? Especially one as proud as Edward.

 

Roy’s mind wondered from scenario to scenario, trying to find the best set of words to convey what he wanted to say, but never quite being satisfied with what he came up with. 

 

Roy’s thoughts came to an abrupt stop as an idea clicked in his head. It was a long shot whether it would work or not, but it was all he had. It was also going to be a blow to his own pride in a way, but Roy was asking Ed to sacrifice a little of his pride surely Roy could do the same for the boy. 

 

Roy wasted no time removing himself from his lonely little compartment and making his way back through the winding train before landing in front of the door to the compartment that he and Ed shared. Roy stilled himself with a quick breath before opening the door. 

 

The boy was still seated in that same scrunched and tense little cuddle he had been in when Roy left him. Their eyes met, that same ever-present fiery nature glowing in Edward’s eyes as he glowered at his commanding officer. “What the hell do you want?”

 

_ ‘A pleasant start,’ _ Roy thought as he took his old seat across from the boy. 

 

“Well!?” Edward waited for a reply. 

  
Roy heaved a breathless sigh as he forced the next words out of his mouth, “I’m scared too.”   
  
“I- What?” Edward straightened himself in his seat as the glower    
slowly fell from his face. 

  
“I’m scared too. This isn’t like the little inspections I usually send you on, Fullmetal. This is a real war, against real soldiers. A lot of people are going to die and that could very well include one or both of us. None of my men are with us which means I have no one except you that I can trust.” Surprise flickered across the boy's features. “So yes, I’m scared, you’d have to be insane not to be.”   
  
Edward’s eyes shined with barely concealed shock as he took in the Colonels words. Moments passed before the boy turned his head away from the Colonel with a subtle flush on his cheeks, fighting some sort of internal battle that Roy was unaware of. 

 

“Fullmetal?” Roy questioned, worried the boy might be getting ill from the stress. 

 

“Thanks.” 

 

“What?”

 

“I’m not saying it again.”

 

“...Alright.” Roy looked at the boy with endearing amusement. He understood what the boy meant and he knew nothing more needed to be said. Anything more would probably just end up embarrassing one or both of them. 

  
Edward grew silent in his seat once more, contemplating something to himself. What it could be, Roy had no idea.

  
Roy took a look out of the window and watched as the terrain passed by. The day had gone and it was dark by now. They had already been traveling for a few hours and yet it would still be many more before they arrived at their destination. Roy turned his attention back to his young subordinate who was letting out a big yawn. “we still have a few hours before we arrive, you should try and get some sleep.”   
  
“I could say the same to you, old man.” Despite his back-talking Edward already had his eyes closed and was making himself as comfortable as possible, leaning his head back against the wall of the train.    
  
Roy let out an amused chuckle, “Don’t you worry about me, kid. Just get your rest...” Roy’s eyes narrowed, “You’re going to need it.”   
  
Roy grew solemn as he finished his thought knowing the horrors that awaited them both. Ed was strong, stronger than anyone Roy had ever met before. But still, how would he handle it? Would he break down? Would he power through it? Roy could feel his anxiety and concern for the boy begin to grow as his thoughts bounced from scenario to scenario. All the possible dangers colliding in his mind at once. He had to keep Ed safe. He’d never be able to forgive himself if he didn’t.    
  
Roy forced his anxious thoughts from his mind. Edward was right, Roy needed rest too and he couldn’t very well do that with his imagination running wild.    
  
He looked at the boy one last time. He couldn’t help the fond smile that made its way onto his face. The kid had already begun to drift off to the early stages of sleep. How Ed could sleep so easily on these uncomfortable trains was truly beyond Roy. But at the same time, with how much the Elric boys traveled Ed was probably used to long train rides. Perhaps it was just second nature to him.    
  
The Colonel sighed as he leaned his head against the wall of the train. He allowed himself to eventually drift off into a restless sleep as his own fears and anxieties chased him even into his slumber. 

 

Pretty soon he’d be waking up to the frontlines of the Amestris-Aurego conflict where those fears, and things far worse than even his most horrid nightmares, would become a reality.

**Author's Note:**

> And there it is the first chapter! Not much but hey gotta start somewhere. I have no idea how long this’ll end up being but I do know pretty much all the major events of the story so if that’s anything to go off of it’ll be a decent length. I may start another fic or two so I can rotate between them and not tire myself out. We’ll see where it goes!


End file.
